Lobelia cardinalis

cardinal flower

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Characteristics

Descriptions

Light Requirements

sun, part-sun, part-shade

Soil Moisture

moist, wet

Soil Description

acid, neutral, alkaline, rich, loam, clay, sand

Height

2'-5'

Bloom Time

July, August, September

Bloom Color

red

Hardiness Zone

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

More Filters

attracts hummingbirds, deer resistant, fall interest, ornamental foliage, pollinator favorite, pond margin plant, stream margin plant

Description

It is impossible not to do a double take when you spot a Lobelia cardinalis in bloom during the heat of summer. Its vivid red is so conspicuous it hardly seems possible nature could produce a color that intense. The plant has a vertical habit, with deep-green, lance-shaped, coarsely serrated leaves that are up to 6” long and predominantly basal. It produces an unbranched central stem that terminates in a flowering spike that can be up to 2’ long, bring the plant’s total height up to 3 to 4’. The flowers are tubular, intensely red, and up to 1 ½” long. You will enjoy this species’ long blooming period that can occur from late summer to early fall, and lasts about 1 ½ months.

Cultivation

Lobelia cardinalis is very adaptable, with the only requirement being that the soil not dry out for extended periods. It can grow in full sun just as well as in part-shade where it gets exposed to as little as 2 hours of direct sun per day. Just keep in mind that the more sun it is exposed to, the higher its water needs will be. It is not particular about soil and will thrive in sandy loam as well as in clay soil. To be accurate, this is not a true perennial: the above ground parts as well as the roots of each individual plant will completely die after it blooms, but not before producing offshoots that will in turn ensure its perennial presence. It is therefore important to not heavily mulch the base of the plants in fall, or let a lot of leaf litter accumulate, because these offshoots will need to be exposed in order to survive. Great around water features and in rain gardens, cardinal flower can also be a showy addition to perennial gardens and woodland borders. Zones 3-9

Additional Notes

Lobelia cardinalis is attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. It is moderately deer resistant. It would be easy to assume that Lobelia is a reference to a lobed feature common to all species within the genus. In fact, the lower lip of L. cardinalis flowers is indeed conspicuously lobed. However, you would be making a wrong assumption. The genus is named after Flemish physician and botanist Mathias de l’Obel (1538-1616), aka Matthaeus Lobelius (latinizing names was a thing back then). The root of the specific epithet cardinalis goes back to the noun cardo, meaning “hinge”. From there it came to signify something pivotal and important, hence by the late Middle Ages the word cardinalis was used for the highest ranking church officials after the Pope. So, and I’m sure you’d guessed it before this long trip down memory lane, both the specific epithet cardinals and the common name cardinal flower are a reference to the fashionably-red garb sported by Cardinals of the Catholic Church.

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Pricing & Availability

Would you like your plants shipped later? You may choose to do so in the shopping cart.

Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.

Did you know? When plants are available from multiple growers, we list growers closest to your location first.

Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!

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Pricing & Availability

Grouped product items
Pricing & Availability
Full Flats
Midwest Groundcovers , IL
Available: 10-count 4” pots, full tray (10 pots) NEW $110.80 $11.08 per plant - Sold in full flats only	75 available
See all plants sold by Midwest Groundcovers. --------------------------------	Please specify the quantity of products.
Available: 38-count deep plugs, full flat (38 plugs) NEW $135.70 $3.57 per plant - Sold in full flats only	73 available
See all plants sold by Midwest Groundcovers. --------------------------------	Please specify the quantity of products.
Kind Earth Growers , PA
Available: 50-count deep plugs, full flat (50 plugs) $169.75 $3.40 per plant - Sold in full flats only	7 available
See all plugs sold by Kind Earth Growers. --------------------------------	Please specify the quantity of products.

50-Count Deep Plugs

Size
2” x 2” across by 5” deep. They are referred to as deep 50s, DP50, or LP50®.

Recommended Uses
DP50s are landscape-ready plugs and can be planted as they are. They can also be used as starter plants to be finished in gallon-size pots.

Pros
They hit the sweet spot by combining the benefits of young plants with deep root systems and the lower cost of 50 plugs per flat. The plants are still at a vigorous stage of growth and establish quickly in the landscape. Due to their large size they require less TLC once planted than the smaller plug sizes. They are ideal for new installations as well as filling gaps in established plantings.

Cons
We haven’t really found any downsides to using DP50s. However, to install them we recommend purchasing a good soil knife, or a drill auger for large installations.

38-Count Deep Plugs

38-count plugs

Size
2 ¼ ” x 2 ¼ ” across by 5” deep. They are referred to as deep 38s or DP38s.

Recommended Uses
38s are landscape-ready plugs and can be planted as they are. They are the same width as our 32s, but allow for an additional inch of root depth. They can also be used as starter plants to be finished in gallon-size containers or larger.

Pros
They hit the sweet spot by combining the benefits of young plants with deep root systems and the lower cost of 38 plugs per flat. The plants are still at a vigorous stage of growth and establish quickly in the landscape. Due to their large size they require less TLC once planted than the smaller plug sizes. They are ideal for new installations as well as filling gaps in established plantings.

Cons
We haven’t really found any downsides to using 38s. However, to install them we recommend purchasing a good soil knife, or a drill auger for large installations.

10-Count 4" Pots

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Size
Each pot is 4” in diameter by 3.5” deep. They are referred to as pints, although there are multiple that are described as such in the trade. These are on the larger size of this category, just shy of a trade quart.

Recommended Uses
4” pots are landscape-ready, and c

can also be used as starter plants to be potted up into gallon-size containers or larger. This container size accommodates plants with roots systems that tend to grow wide rather than putting down a deep tap root.

Pros
Well-established, mature root systems. Will provide a rapid visual impact in the garden.

Cons
Installing 4” pots creates more soil disturbance than smaller plants and plugs.

Maps, Wetland Status & More

MAP OF NATIVE RANGE

Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.

More Information

Native To

More Information
AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, AZ, CA, CO, FL, LA, NM, NV, TX, UT

Legal Status

Exploitably Vulnerable	NY
Salvage Restricted	AZ
Threatened	FL

Wetland Status

Arid West	OBL
Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain	FACW
Eastern Mountains and Piedmont	FACW
Great Plains	FACW
Midwest	OBL
Northcentral and Northeast	OBL
Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast	FACW

MAP OF WETLAND DELINEATION REGIONS

Wetland Status regions

Northcentral and Northeast

Eastern Mountains and Piedmont

Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain

Midwest

Great Plains

Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast

Arid West

Interpreting Wetland Status

Code	Status	Designation	Comment
OBL	Obligate Wetland	Hydrophyte	Almost always occur in wetlands
FACW	Facultative Wetland	Hydrophyte	Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands
FAC	Facultative	Hydrophyte	Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands
FACU	Facultative Upland	Nonhydrophyte	Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands
UPL	Obligate Upland	Nonhydrophyte	Almost never occur in wetlands

Classification

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta	Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons
Subclass	Asteridae
Order	Campanulales
Family	Campanulaceae	Bellflower family
Genus	Lobelia	lobelia
Species	Lobelia cardinalis	cardinal flower

Plant Sizes

Sizes Sizes

Sizes info

Shipping & Planting

SHIPPING INFO:

Shipping is free on all plants orders!

Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.

Shipping plugs:

Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.

When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.

After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.

Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.

PLANTING INFO:

Planting plugs:

We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.

We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.

Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.

Lobelia cardinalis

cardinal flower

Characteristics